By Kollengode S Venkataraman, written in 1997
Comparing the education levels of entrepreneurs and the population in the US is quite revealing. See the table below. Among entrepreneurs, only 3% have not completed high school, while 20% of the general population has not completed high school. Without even a high school diploma it is tough to survive in business. Phenomenal success stories like Wendy’s Dave Thomas are aberrations.
US Entrepreneurs US population
Postgraduate 12% 7%
4-year college 38% 21%
Some college 23%
High school 24%
Some High school 3%
In the US, 12% of entrepreneurs have postgraduate degrees, while only 7% of the population has higher degrees. While 50% of entrepreneurs have bachelor’s degrees or better, only 28% of the population has bachelor’s and higher degrees. Fifty-two percent of the US population has high school diplomas, but without college degrees. Among entrepreneurs, this category is 47%. It is worth noting that while 50% of the entrepreneurs have college degrees, the remaining 50% have no college degrees.
A disproportionate fraction of Indian immigrants have higher education, mostly in engineering, medicine, management, and the sciences. If we exclude physicians, lawyers, and CPAs, who find it both lucrative and safe to go on their own, one can unscientifically guess that more than 70% of primary income earners among our families
businesses, even when both husband and wife are professionals.
Indian immigrants from social backgrounds traditionally associated with trade and enterprise have preserved their native enterprising instincts. In this culture that has made free enterprise a mantra, these immigrants have further nurtured their enterprising instincts with their commitment, family participation, and long hours of hard work. With some good luck, many own successful businesses, mostly in the service sector, not only catering to other immigrants, but also the American mainstream. We bid them Godspeed!
Other Indian immigrants are from families having no business background. For many of these professionals, working for large and medium-size corporations gives social identity and instant access to the American middle-class lifestyle, economically, in any case.
This is understandable in our culture where our ZIP codes define us socially and economically. Marketing gurus would make you believe that if you are under 36.6 years of age and own a home (in a desirable ZIP code address) having more than 4.3 BR, 2.2 GRG, 2400 sq. ft living area (bsmt exclded), 4.7 TV sets, 7.7 phone jacks, 3.7 phone lines, 2.6 cars, and a 166 MHz computer or better with Internet access, and have fewer than 2.13 kids, you’ve made it buddy! Wow, your lifestyle is in the top 5th percentile of the US population!
These professionals, partly because of their higher education, often are risk-averse. Further, higher education gives increased mobil-ity, a plus-point in an economic/corporate down turn, at least till one hits middle age. After middle age, it is another story: One has higher odds of getting ” surplussed,” “out-sourced” “downsized,” “readjus-ted,” “rightsized,” “fenced-out,» “reengineered” or simply laid off or fired. Then, one is as disoriented as a domesticated animal that has lost all its innate survival instincts suddenly thrown back into the wild.
Most of our children take for granted many of the creature comforts that we consider trophies. These children, naturally, will aim for things very different – sometimes even nebulous and abstract – in their adult life. They may, one hopes, feel confident to take calculated risks and venture along unchartered waters. END